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DES MOINES — The Lake Delhi dam in eastern Iowa failed Saturday as rising floodwater from the Maquoketa River ate a 30-foot-wide hole in the earthen dam, causing water to drop 45 feet to the river below and threatening the small town of Hopkinton.

Northeast Iowa has been inundated with torrential rain in recent days with as much as 9 inches being reported in some locations. The heavy rain has pushed the Maquoketa River to 23.92 feet — more than 2 feet above its previous record of 21.66 feet in 2004.

Jack Klaus, a spokesman with the Delaware County emergency management office, said warning sirens were sounding in Hopkinton as water began to surround homes there Saturday afternoon.

Areas below and above the dam had been evacuated, including numerous cabins and homes — as many as 700 — above the dam because of high water.

Just out side of town to the west is the Lake Hurst Dam on the same river. A smallish brick and mortar hydro electric dam built about 50+ years ago.

Dam officials and city officials are sweating the night out as the situation is not good right now. With a large amount of water, in addition to all the flood debries flowing in it smashing into the dam, they fear it too could fail as well.

This morning when word of the New Delhi dam failure hit this area, they opened it up wide to try and drop the water level down low before it hit, right now I think its helped in holding back some of the flooding, but like I said, its a old dam with a lot of trees and other stuff hitting it.

Should be a few days before Lake Delhi drains fully, hope our dam holds and the water doesn't get much higher.

Just out side of town to the west is the Lake Hurst Dam on the same river. A smallish brick and mortar hydro electric dam built about 50+ years ago.

Dam officials and city officials are sweating the night out as the situation is not good right now. With a large amount of water, in addition to all the flood debries flowing in it smashing into the dam, they fear it too could fail as well.

This morning when word of the New Delhi dam failure hit this area, they opened it up wide to try and drop the water level down low before it hit, right now I think its helped in holding back some of the flooding, but like I said, its a old dam with a lot of trees and other stuff hitting it.

Should be a few days before Lake Delhi drains fully, hope our dam holds and the water doesn't get much higher.

More like he'll just ignore it. The stimulus was supposed to be spent on infrastructure upgrades and repairs, but since this isn't an opportunity to expand government, line the pockets of Obama's cronies or empower a union at the expense of employers, it will not see a dime of federal money.

It's to make a point that these people in Iowa will more than likely be well prepared for this kind of flood just like 2 years ago. They won't be sitting around waiting for the government to come rescue them. They will help themselves. And yes, we're all praying for you buddy.